Prayer

Prayer 

6/9/17

How much emphasis do we put on prayer?  Do we even believe in its effectiveness or is it a gimmick that wastes our time?  Both of these questions and much more are asked every day with many of the harsher ones coming from those who claim to be Christians.  It is evident that most people who attend church do not really believe in the sanctity of prayer nor do they understand exactly what it means to pray.  This nation and the world shall continue its downward spiral until we change our prayer habits and once again interceding for our eternal safety.  Prayer is nothing to be taken lightly and when we understand its importance to our survival and restoration we will then begin to comprehend the encompassing effects that prayer has for our lives and what protection it gives to a nation in need.

It is no secret that many people have been praying for my family for as long as I can remember.  Not just a simple prayer here and there but complete interceding prayers for every known aspect of the Kingdom.  For as long as I can remember there were people that would come and visit mom and dad just to pray with them not necessarily about anything specific but for their ministry and the direction that God had for their lives.  When I was younger I really did not fully understand the concepts of prayer and what it meant to almost continually pray for someone and important it was to do such a promise.  To be honest I really did not have any conviction to pray on a continual basis besides food, a detriment that I fully regret today for maybe some of my choices in the past might have been a tad different.

My parents have served God and His Kingdom for over 55 years now and they have attacked the kingdom of this world with a great might that is hard to compare with because the battles they fought and still fight are for people’s eternal placement.  When ministers or anyone who works for the Kingdom of God portrays such a fierce contingency against the world there is no way possible that they could complete and accomplish this fight alone.  Yes, of course, God is with them and He will not abandon them in any way, but when prayers are lifted up towards God it becomes so much easier to fight against an eternal enemy.  Many of the people who consider themselves Christians do not have this concept about prayer and while not everyone is called to be an intercessor we should be knowledgeable about the fight around us enough to want to pray for everyone’s protection and repentance, because isn’t that the pure foundational definition of family is to have peace, togetherness, and support when things go array?

Prayer is the ultimate weapon against becoming a slave to the world and to your surroundings, for it represents the only key in keeping the communication with God open and secure.  If our prayer life is damaged or dulled in any way then the enemy has ample opportunity to suppress any defensive and offensive mechanisms for advancing God’s Kingdom for when our prayer life is shortened then our time to study the Word of God, not just reading it, will follow suit and that means that we weaken our protection.  I have to admit that my prayer life in the past has not been very good and today my prayers continue to grow and change according to what God has revealed to me about His Church, His children, this nation and the world.  I remember that many times my prayers were centered on my life and for my personal well being, even after I got married decades ago my prayer life really was not growing and thus my commitment to God reflected such evidence.

God’s change in my life began when my heart began to seek God earnestly and honestly and this change came when my prayer life changed.  It changed because it turned from an inward and selfish place to one that sought knowledge for God’s children for their worldly intelligence was eating them alive due to the lack of wisdom and knowledge of God and His Word.  A great time back God began to show me signs of events that were to occur and through these sights my heart began to break because in them I saw and felt so many people dying with hatred and ugliness prevailing as these events occurred.  Everything from natural disasters to manmade attacks filled my heart on a routine basis and because my prayers had been so selfishly administered I could not pray as I should have especially since I had been involved in the church for such a long time.  Little did I realize that it was my own doings that led me to that place for I really did not understand why it was important to continually pray with a fervent heart and not with one that takes advantage of the good times that had been provided.

Adam and Eve had the perfect opportunity to talk with God on a daily basis; this setting is the perfect one to illustrate what it means to pray to God for it is the eternal lifeline that He gives us to communicate with Him.  Adam and Eve physically had the opportunity to personally view God and to verbally communicate with Him every morning, to ask Him questions face to face and to audibly hear His responses when they asked.  A powerful tool used in their lives that should have enhanced their protection to an impenetrable level, but as time passes we find that this communication tool ended up like any parent talking with their child, one-sided for the most part.  It was through the actions and choices of Adam and Eve that this direct communication with God changed into prayer.  So, once again let me ask you this question: how important is prayer?  There is a reason it is called the lifeline of communication with God for it is the way that we talk with God and it is on the same level as the direct words spoken to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by God.

As we have determined many times over the past few years that God has been sharing these messages, prayer is vital to the relationship with God and we all know that if any relationship does not communicate on a regular basis some extent of separation occurs.  We do not feel as close to one another as before, we lose touch with the ones who are in the specific relationship, divisions present themselves when issues arise, and countless other problems are noticed as time goes along.  If not corrected properly recognition of all parties involved dim and if not contained complete knowledge of those involved disappear.  When direct communication leaves our repertoire there can no longer be any hope of saving a relationship and eventually, all knowledge of the parties involved will end which will lead to a complete breakdown of established relationships, both personal and national. We cannot lose the concept that if our prayer life is not on a continual and constant devotion we are sunk, just as the lives of Adam and Eve proved when it became obvious that they no longer believed that their talks with God were not important enough to heed.

When a direct line of communication with God is taken seriously and not just one-sided anything that we encounter, anything we desire to occur, any problem that needs to be fixed is possible.  To have a one-sided prayer life can mean a couple of different reasons with the first reason being the obvious one where we do not wish to have any communication with God at all and thus do not talk with Him on any level.  This is a common problem that many have in the fact that they may not believe in God, believe that they have been hurt by God or flat do not see the need to communicate with someone they do not have anything in common with.  They voluntarily end all talks with God and choose to walk it alone and do things for themselves, you know trusting in themselves alone you know, the same one who does not know who they are.  Makes perfect sense don’t you think?

Another one-sided communication life is one that prays for themselves and is the center of the conversation of such prayers, as in the usage of “I” many more times than who we are praying for or what we are praying for.  It is very easy to stick to a selfish prayer in the belief that we are trying to get God to change our settings or situations.  How many times have we prayed for God to let things go our way or to allow favorable results from some trial that is occurring in our lives? I have to admit I have been guilty of such selfish prayers and still find myself on occasion saying such prayers but my heart is one of repentance and as soon as I say the awful words I recognize them and repent of them.  These prayers do not and cannot recognize the real issues surrounding the ones who are offering such prayers which mean they have been blinded enough that they believe that the prayers they are speaking are actually genuine and come from a pure heart, a dangerous belief that will ultimately lead to a complete one-sided prayer level.

It is evident that this nation has followed suit that Israel followed so many times in their history.  It is clear that we as a society do not wish to have anything to do with God and His principles.  While having a worldly society is not shocking news at all the behavior of such activities within the societies can be quite troublesome.  But when we place our hearts in the world as its primary source of communication and ways of thinking we cannot help but enter into the rewards section of death and destruction.  I saw a sobering list the other day on one of the social media sites and it is one that tells a huge story both on the human side of issues and the other side, God’s.  I did not see this list on any of the major news channels but it should have been for it tells of what type of prayers this nation and other modern nations present to God and at the same time gives the answer as to why these such events are increasing in number and not decreasing.

The list of “prayers for ______” has become a popular choice of symbolism when it comes to cities or communities being hit by terrorism and while the coverage and participation in such sessions are well indeed, they fall on deaf ears of God because it represents a one-sided prayer chain that is based solely on look at me and remember what has been done to me instead of oh, God, please forgive us for our sins and we turn our hearts towards you once again for good.  You (we) do not hear these prayers, just the “look at me” prayers and that is the reason why these events are increasing instead of repenting of the reasons why these destructive events are occurring.  Now, when I saw this list it was updated to 3 June 2017 and since that date, there has been another incident.  The list is as follows:

Pray for Paris                          1/7/15                                      Pray for Paris              11/13/15

Pray for San Bernadino          12/2/15                                    Pray for Brussels         3/22/16

Pray for Orlando                     6/12/16                                    Pray for Nice               7/14/16

Pray for Wurzburg                  7/18/16                                    Pray for Munich          7/22/16

Pray for Ansbach                    7/24/16                                    Pray for Reutlingen     7/24/16

Pray for France                       7/26/16                                    Pray for Ohio              11/28/16

Pray for Berlin                        12/19/16                                  Pray for Istanbul         1/1/17

Pray for London                     3/22/17                                    Pray for St Petersburg 4/3/17             

Pray for Stockholm                 4/7/17                                      Pray for Dortmund     4/4/17

Pray for Paris                          4/20/17                                    Pray for Manchester    5/22/17

Pray for London                     6/3/17                                      Pray for Tehran           6/7/17

The trend I see in this chart is that for the last few years the number of “Pray for” has increased and this is a sure sign that something is not working correctly and since God cannot change His stance on ANYTHING, it seems like it probably is the other side of the issue, US!  It seems to me like we have adopted the position that Adam and Eve, Egypt, Israel, people, and all other civilizations who have rejected God demonstrate the same types of examples of devastation with no prayers answered.  Something to remember, if a person uses God’s Word as a source for mocking Him or not obeying His commands or Word, even if they were born and raised in church you can quickly understand what kind of prayer life they have and furthermore what type of response will come into the lives that are praying.   

The most fervent prayer life is one that recognizes the state of our hearts and seeks God to change it and to mold it into His image every second of every day.  This type of prayer signifies that the person understands their sin and knows the need for God on all levels and how important it is to hear His instructions on a continual basis.  This praying person knows what sin is and how it affects each life within a nation and then understands that the sins of the world need to be recognized and taken care of before they inflict damage, not afterward.  This type of prayer is not easy no matter how many times it comes from the heart for the person, group, Church, or nation who prays with conviction, knows that if they continue to harbor sin their protection shall be taken away and then subject to all types of physical and spiritual mutilation.  It is this type of prayer that will reflect the direct communication setting that humans once enjoyed with God.

It is easy for some to sit back and to criticize God for what He allows to come into our lives but how can we expect such dealings when we do not communicate with Him so that He can tell us what to avoid and what to accept?  Adam and Eve’s dominion was destroyed because of their lack of commitment to God’s devotionals each morning and since that pattern was established so long ago and it worked for Satan then why stop now?  It is our prayer life that allows our lives to either live in the Light or walk in darkness and it is how we understand and view prayer that counts.  It is guaranteed that if we have a ½ hearted prayer commitment then that will be exactly what we will receive in return for that is what we put into it.  Having a ½ hearted prayer life is like going to church on occasionally and that is it and if one lives this type of life there can be no direct relationship with God for if you do not care about church then how can you care about God’s Word? 

A third type of prayer is another example of a one-sided prayer but in this example the one-sided effort comes from God.  See, even though Adam and Eve had doubts about God and His command, God did not stop talking with them on a daily basis, He continued His course of provisions and warnings and even though He knew their hearts and that it would be just a matter of time before things would change, He did not stop.  After the judgment of our newly found sin God gave a perfect example of prayer when He made the aprons of skin to cloth Adam and Eve for it was a direct communication technique that God used in order for our senses to activate our minds and hearts in order to understand exactly what was needed.  This type of one-sided prayer life is still in practice today and is available to anyone who opens their ears and hearts to God’s voice.  A glorious example that answers a few questions concerning how important it is to have an honest and pure prayer life and why it is important for our enemy to do his best to severe such connection.

So, what does prayer prevention mean?  It means total protection and prevention of worldly settings being able to destroy our lives as we know it.  If only one person is praying and then truly listening for God’s voice for direction then that person is blessed of God.  But if that one person is in the midst of 1.2 million inhabitants and the only one praying in such manner, then there is a problem and while this person continues their course of holiness, God will still look at the hearts of that nation and judge accordingly, both the just and the unjust a painful consequence of God that He cannot change.  It is well known that the list for the cities and communities that being splashed over our screens on a routine basis do need help and they do need our prayers but when our hearts would rather sin and do things our own way do not expect God to listen and then intervene, remember He is a consistent God.

This is exactly why Israel found themselves in the predicaments that they did one sided prayers and look at what devastations they endured for millennia.  They were taken into captivity and left in slavery for countless years at a time.  It was by their own choices that God had to allow these events to occur and since their cries were in vain because of their lackluster attitudes towards His laws, God had no choice but to act as a parent.  Our society is facing the exact same types of sinful infiltrations due to the one sided prayers that we are offering up to God, there are so many bless me, bless me prayers reaching His ears that He is sick of the selfish complacency of the blessings He has already imposed on modern mankind.  All we ask for is “want this and want that with no thoughts of repentance what-so-ever, a true sign of entitlement that Satan himself invented and now parades around freely through our actions.

The only way that our lives and society shall change and actually shorten the “Pray for ____” list and others similar to this one is if we turn our hearts back to God, lose the selfish attitudes when referring to God and His presence in our lives, repent completely and seek God in all ways of our lives, IF we accept this truth again then we will not have too many problems changing our prayer life for we will want to know more about how to prevent all of these disastrous settings from occurring for our prayer life shall change accordingly.  If we turn to God then God is faithful to heal our land according to His Ways a beautiful truth that we need to revisit with our hearts.  Church, it is a simple process and this process starts with us for it is our lack of fervent prayers and continual lifting up our nation to God that has landed us in the predicament that we see today.  If we do not agree to reestablish this true prayer life with God again, there is no hope what-so-ever of our survival.  God is the only answer and His Son is the only way to this restoration and direct communication process again.  It is completely our choice.

DLB